Fields of Gold
by Aurora Sunrise
Summary: Who says 17-year-old Kagome can't run a farm? Her mother, that's who. When tragedy strikes Mrs. Higurashi sells their farm to Tegatai Inc., a company that buys farmland as a business. But with an extremely good price comes Inuyasha, the CEO's 19-year-old.
1. Chapter 1

I am back and writing! Formerly known as blackenedlove, this is Aurora Sunrise coming at you live...kind of. As you may have noticed I have deleted all but one of my prevoius stories, and unless I am divinely inspired they are not coming back (they were just pages of angst anyways). Ahh, it's good to be back. Enjoy! (P.S. I don't own Inuyasha)

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Fields of Gold

Chapter 1

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It was a dark and rainy night…or so I would like to say, but in fact it was an ironically sunny day. Ironic, because on a rather large farm west of the Mississippi River, a father of two is being pulled under the teeth of a corn combine.

"DAD!!" Kagome Higurashi rushed to her father. She jumped into the cab of the corn combine and with shaking fingers turned off the monstrous piece of machinery.

On this 'dark and rainy night' (by which of course I mean 'rather pleasant September day') Kagome Higurashi pulled her father out of the malicious teeth of the combine.

"Dad…" Kagome stared at her father's limp form. "Daddy?" She tried, no response. "Papa?" One eye creaked open, revealing a startlingly blue iris.

"Hey, baby girl," the rasping words fought their way out of his mouth, "Why so blue?" Red blood dribbled itself down Mr. Higurashi's chin to mingle with the blood gushing from the wounds on his shoulder, stomach and arms.

"Oh, daddy…"

Kagome Higurashi is despairing because, though she knows her mother has called the ambulance, her father's life is fading from his body. She curses the machine that killed him.

"Hey, baby girl," her father said in a harsher tone, "don't you cry. You'll be fine. You help out your mother with Sota, and you make sure you get this harvest in, you hear? I'm not going to die for nothing."

"You're not going to die…"

However, Kagome Higurashi knows her father is going to die and she wishes she could be mad at him for telling her to utilize the machinery that killed him. She wishes she could blame the

combine for his death and send it to the dump, but as she knows her father will die, she also knows that she cannot sacrifice the harvest, and their years pay, because she needs something to blame.

"Hey, baby girl," came the heavy words along with blood bubbling from her father's lips in the low sweet tone that always comforted her, "I love you…"

As the much too late sirens of the ambulance enter her consciousness, Kagome Higurashi realizes she has heard her father's voice for the last time. As she cries, she also realizes she is covered in blood not her own.

And so she screams.

-8-

It is September 15th, a Sunday. Every person except one from every family in the surrounding area is attending the funeral of Mr. Higurashi. All the mothers, daughters and sons are at the cemetery. The fathers are at home, working the fields and harvesting their land. They are also thanking god that it was not they that fell prey to the teeth of their own combine. Amongst the fathers at home working, is a sixteen-year-old girl. Her mother and brother are at the funeral, so someone must stay behind to bring in the harvest. If not, they will be behind the other farms and get a lower price on corn. This girl is Kagome Higurashi, and she is doing her best to not intentionally crash the combine she is driving, just to pay it back for murdering her beloved father.

Kagome was doing her best to concentrate on the task at hand, however to be honest there wasn't much to do. The damnable tractor she was driving was doing most of the work for her. All Kagome had to do was steer, and turn at the corners. So, instead of watching where they were going, Kagome's eyes traveled to the teeth of the combine and painted in front of her the memory of pulling her father's bloodied body from them. Hysteria threatened to over take her, and Kagome did her utmost to push the fresh memories from her mind, which should have been otherwise occupied.

-8-

That year, the harvest was slower to come in, but it did come in, and it did make a profit. In December, Kagome was still running around the farm. The fields were done for the year, but the horses, cows, chickens and sheep took much looking after. There were various farm hands around who were a great help to Kagome, but she had little other guidance. Her mother was not originally a farm girl, and her brother was too young at nine to help.

So it was with a brave face that Kagome took the task of managing the farm as best she could, alongside her schoolwork. As a consequence, the time she took for herself was ultimately eliminated. All the things she had loved were pushed aside in turn for farm duties. The only pleasure Kagome allowed herself was horseback riding in the woods that abutted their farm. This fact quickly became obvious to her best friend.

"Kagome!" Sango caught up to her one day in late November, "Are you free tomorrow? A few of us are driving up to see a movie and dinner, we'll make a night of it!" She said enthusiastically. Kagome smiled sadly and shook her head.

"Sorry, we have to move the hay bails from the shed to the farm this weekend. I'll be busy every day," Kagome refused politely before leaving in her truck. Sango watched her go forlornly. She thought off handedly that it seemed Kagome had aged ten years over the past three months.

And in fact, Sango was not the only one to have noticed this abrupt change in Kagome. Mrs. Higurashi as well noted and acted on it, which was why Kagome was now sitting across from her, shocked and livid, at what she had just said.

"Could you repeat that please?" Kagome asked stiffly. Mrs. Higurashi hesitated, but said it again.

"I'm selling the farm." Kagome nodded.

"I thought that's what you said." She confirmed, and then continued, "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" Kagome screamed at her mother, "The last thing your husband requested was that we not make his death in vain! He worked this farm for over 30 years! AND NOW YOU ARE SELLING IT!" Mrs. Higurashi took a deep breath. She had known this would come, but that did not mean that she was prepared for the outburst – or prepared to do her best to not retaliate.

"Kagome, I want you to calm down and listen." Mrs. Higurashi said firmly. Much to her surprise, Kagome did indeed shoot down into her seat with as much contempt as one can demonstrate in the act of sitting down. "I'm not 'selling' the farm exactly, more liking renting it, permanently. I've sold it to a corporation that buys farmland as a business. It's rather new, but successful and it seemed like a very good deal to me. For starters, we will be staying on the farm. We will still farm it, along with the help of your uncle, and his son."

"Uncle Masaki?" Kagome said coldly. "And Miroku? Those two aren't exactly reliable,"

"They may have their rather abhorrent quirks, but they know their business and I don't want you pushing yourself harder than you have to. Miroku will be graduating high school this year, and he's planning on going into farming and your father's brother has been farming for years." Mrs. Higurashi explained, hoping Kagome would accept her plans.

"And pray tell, who exactly are we selling the farm to?" Kagome asked bitterly.

"Tegatai Inc.," Mrs. Higurashi told her daughter, "The CEO seemed very agreeable, and he's buying the farm for a very high price with only a few conditions,"

"I don't really care what these conditions are because regardless of what I think, you are going to do whatever you wish – however I am curious to know, if you won't let me handle it; how are you going to deal with the actual business of the farm?" Kagome asked coolly.

"Funny you should ask, actually." Mrs. Higurashi laughed nervously. "Mr. Takahashi has two sons. One of his conditions was that we house his 19-year-old son and let him deal with the farm management – with guidance, of course – so that he can learn the business first hand."

Kagome stared at her mother. She stared and stared and stared. She counted to ten eight times, very quickly. She took a deep, calming breath and then spoke.

"WHAT?!" screaming was becoming a common occurrence, "YOU'RE GOING TO LET SOME STRANGER HANDNLE THE FINANCES OF MY FATHER'S FARM? HE WILL _RUIN_ US!" Kagome shouted at her mother in a fit of rage. "I can't believe you can call yourself his wife, because you obviously never took the time to learn what he wanted! You are ruining his dream, my dream and his farm. _You _are making his death meaningless!"

-8-

"Welcome, Masaki!" Mrs. Higurashi rushed out into the snow to greet her brother-in-law. "It's so good to see you again! How have you been?" The large, built man rumbled with laughter.

"Never better!" Masaki replied, "You remember Miroku, of course?" Masaki ushered his tall son forward. Miroku was weighed down with five packed duffle bags, but attempted a weak smile.

"Hello," he said, "It's good to see you,"

"Oh, you poor dear! Kagome is just coming in from the barn, she can help you with your bags. Kagome!" Mrs. Higurashi called her daughter over. Wearing only jeans, a long sleeve cotton t-shirt and a pair of very muddy boots, Kagome trudged through the snow with a deep frown on her forehead. "Could you help Miroku with the bags?" Without a word, Kagome relieved him of three bags and grabbed another from the back of their truck. With a curt nod to her uncle she disappeared up the steps of their porch and into the house. Miroku quickly followed. Mrs. Higurashi sighed. "She hasn't taken the news very well," she explained. Masaki looked thoughtful.

"On the contrary, it seems she's taken the news very well. No kicking and screaming, just quiet contempt. It's not easy to hold someone as they die, Kagome has done better than I did," Masaki said. Mrs. Higurashi nodded her head guiltily. Masaki had lost his wife to cancer five years ago, "But aside from that, how are you holding up?" Mrs. Higurashi smiled.

"I'm as fine as someone who just lost a husband can be. I've tried to be there for Kagome. I didn't see him while he was…" Mrs. Higurashi trailed off.

"Mangled?" Masaki offered sullenly. Mrs. Higurashi nodded.

"Kagome woke up screaming and crying for weeks. I'm still surprised how well she's been doing. I'm still not adjusted, but enough of this talk, come inside and warm up." Mrs. Higurashi led him inside and fixed a pot of coffee while Kagome showed Miroku to his room.

Their house was large, both on a standard and farmhouse scale. It was old and Kagome's father had renovated it when he bought the farm. Kagome led him to the room farthest down the head. It was a light green color with a wardrobe, a desk and a double bed with a white comforter and six throw pillows.

"This is nice," Miroku said and dropped his bags on the floor.

"The farm is very profitable," Kagome said shortly, "Your father's room is across the hall, I'll put his bags there and then I'll be in my room, if anyone needs me," Miroku stared after her as she left. 'She can barely smile anymore,' he thought, remembering the giggly cousin he used to play with. He packed his bags away in a more organized area and walked down the hall to Kagome's room. Much to his surprise, it was impeccably clean. Kagome was usually much to busy outside with the horses to clean her room.

"Hey, cuz," Miroku same in and flopped onto her bed, "How's it hanging?" Kagome turned in her desk chair to look at him. Receipts and stacks of paper littered her desk.

"Fine. How has your last year of school been?"

"Horrible, actually. I was one of the only farm boys at my school. That was my label 'farm boy'. Apparently teachers don't get the whole missing school to plant corn. 'Can't your father do it?' I was almost suspended in October for missing so many days because we had to bring in the harvest. I don't quite understand the concept of sending you away from school for missing school."

"Yes, that doesn't make much sense. I'm sorry," Kagome said politely. "I don't mean to be rude, but I really do have to go over the weekly expenses. My mother should be down in the kitchen."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Why are you plotting expenses?" Miroku asked as he got up.

"Mother doesn't know enough about farming, and we don't have anyone else. It's not usually something that is done before March, but I refuse to let the idiot that's coming ruin this farm!" Kagome said heatedly. Miroku hid a smile as he left. 'There's the fiery cousin I know and love,'

-8-

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" A young man shouted at his father in a flat in midtown Manhattan. In this particular flat, their lived a father, his two sons, and a housekeeper. The younger of the sons was currently spewing angry words from his lips. "I'm not traveling 2000 miles to go live with some hillbillies! It's not my fault you picked this shitty town to live in! If you think it's 'detrimental to my lifestyle' than you should have moved some other damn place!"

"Unfortunately for you I chose to move here for the business and gave you the luxury to throw your life away! You have no means to survive in this world and I will not stand for it!" Mr. Takahashi told his son.

"I could survive in this world a shit load better than you could!" Inuyasha Takahashi spat back at his father.

"Oh really? Tell me then; if you refuse to live with the Higurashi's and I refuse to house you in _my_ house anymore where will you live? How will you eat? You have taken business classes and you will take over the management of the Higurashi's farm and that is final!" Mr. Takahashi stormed out of the room, leaving a very put out son in his wake. Inuyasha kicked his bed in frustration and succeeded only in hurting his foot. "And you're leaving in three days, so start packing!" Mr. Takahashi added from down the hall. Inuyasha cursed his bed, his father and whoever the damn Higurashi's were as he slammed his other foot into the bed frame.

-8-

Inuyasha sat silently in the truck. He could not believe his bad luck. Not only was he being forced to manage this tiny ass farm in the middle of nowhere, but he had to do it with a bratty just turned 17 year old and her idiot cousin under foot. Said cousin that he was now sitting next to in the car coming 'home' from the airport.

"Inuyasha?" The boy, Miroku, addressed him, "Did you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah I heard ya!" Inuyasha snapped, "Don't piss Kagome off, don't touch the cows, sheep, chickens or carpet. Don't be a normal person, just stare at the wall like a good boy."

"Actually, what I said was don't ask Kagome about her father and don't go into the barns without someone else," Miroku restated patiently.

"Barns? As in the plural of 'barn'," Inuyasha asked, aghast. There were more than one of these things?

"Of course there's more than one!" Miroku laughed. "You think we keep all the animals in one?"

"I had hoped," grumped Inuyasha, not enjoying being ridiculed.

"Oh you're funny. Kagome's going to love you! There's a barn for the sheep, though most of the time they're around the creek valley. There's a coop for the chickens, and cow barns. We have a ton of cattle. There's the milking barns, barns for the steer, storage barns, I could go on for a while,"

"What the hell are steers?" Inuyasha asked.

"Sterilized bulls, we sell them for their meat at about 18 months." Miroku said, "Don't you know that? I mean you have at least worked on a farm before, right?" Miroku asked, beginning to fear the worst. Kagome was going to have a fit.

"Never even been near one!"

'Oh dear god,'

-8-

Kagome slowly raked the fresh layer of hay into a brown Arab mare's, Viscaria, stall. The older mare danced around the stall, playfully avoiding the pitchfork. Kagome had tried to get her out of her stall, but gave up when the light-hearted mare began snuffling at her hair insistently. Kagome patted her neck and walked back up and down the row of stalls, inspecting them each to monitor how much hay she had used. They had only about ten horses and most of them were Arab. Most of them were used for rounding up cattle in the woods and pastures.

Kagome stopped for longer at two stalls. The first was their stallion's stall. He was a tall black Arab named Amaziah. He stretched his neck over the door and stuck his nose in Kagome's path. Kagome smiled and ran her hand up the strong line of his jaw. She pulled out the slice of apple she had put in her pocket earlier and fed it to Amaziah. Kagome ruffled his mane and moved on to her own horse, Aster. Aster was a young, pure white mare that Kagome had raised and trained. She was graceful and calm and Kagome loved her very much.

"Hey, girl," Kagome stepped into the stall and hugged her horse around the neck. She fed Aster a sugar cube that had somehow managed to slip into her pocket at breakfast. "How's my baby? Are you bored?" Kagome giggled and Aster seemed to roll her eyes. "I know, I know. I'll take you all out tomorrow, but today Mr. Inuyasha Takahashi is arriving," Kagome said bitterly. "I have to show him the ropes so he doesn't bankrupt the farm." Kagome ran her fingers through Aster's rough mane. "Men are so troublesome," Kagome heard the faint crunching of gravel that signified Miroku's return from the airport. With a sigh she exited Aster's stall. "Time to face the music."

-8-

Inuyasha hopped out of the truck thankfully. The bumpy roads (all of which were in states of disrepair) had made him nauseous. This whole farm thing wasn't looking good. However, even Inuyasha had to admit the house that he was now standing in front of was impressive. And huge.

It was a brick house of the light brown persuasion. The stereotypical shutters were cream colored and a porch surround half the house. The house itself was on something of plateau. It was situated on a raised part of the land. Sheep pushed their way through the snow on the slopes surrounding it. Down the hill there were barns everywhere, all of them had their own small pasture. To Inuyasha's left there was a snow-covered field that stretched all the way to the woods, and seemed to continue into them – as there was no fence. Cows and sheep toddled lazily around the various pastures.

"Shouldn't the animals be inside?" Inuyasha asked, shivering. It was only 25 degrees out. Miroku laughed.

"You think those fur coats are for show? Except the chickens, most of the animals will be outside all winter. Kagome is picky about the horses though, she always has someone outside with them if they're in the outer fields."

"You have horses?" Inuyasha asked, his spirits rose considerably. He had always wanted to learn how to ride a horse – not that he was excited or anything.

"Yeah, ten Arabs. Kagome loves them," Miroku said. He hauled a suitcase out of the truck and handed it to Inuyasha. He took another himself and left the other one sitting on the driveway.

"Need help?" Inuyasha turned to whoever had spoken. To his surprise it was a young girl with wavy black hair. She picked up his remaining suitcase and carried it up the stairs with ease. Inuyasha watched appreciatively as her hips swayed. Suddenly this trip didn't seem so hellish.

"Ouch!" A sharp tap brought him out of his thoughts. He turned to face an irate Miroku.

"Hands off the cousin!" Miroku snapped grumpily.

"Protective?" Inuyasha teased him and followed the girl up the stairs, "I'll put my hands wherever I choose,"

"Suit yourself, but I have a feeling Kagome will have a very defined opinion of where your 'hands' go," Miroku warned. Inuyasha ignored him. He entered the house to the welcoming smell of something baking in the oven.

"Who's cooking?" Inuyasha asked. Miroku shrugged.

"Probably my aunt," Miroku wandered into the kitchen followed by Inuyasha, "We're home!" Miroku called as he entered the warm, yellow room. A short, dark haired woman rushed over.

"Welcome home," she said. She wiped her floury hands on her checkered apron and threw her arms around a very surprised Inuyasha. "It's so good to finally meet you! I've heard nothing but good things from your father and brother,"

"Really?" Inuyasha said, surprised.

"Or course. Now, dinner will be in about two hours, so if you want to settle in Miroku can show you your room. Kagome will be teaching you how to manage the farm, but we won't worry about that until tomorrow. Kagome goes on break in two weeks and she'll be able to really hand you the ropes then, but for now she'll just show you the daily chores." Mrs. Higurashi beamed at him, "You may even be able to convince her to take you horseback riding if you're nice,"

Miroku took Inuyasha upstairs to the master guestroom. Inuyasha dumped his suitcases on the blue comforter and flopped down into the cushy armchair next to his bookshelf.

"Not bad, I have to admit." Inuyasha said, surveying his surroundings.

"What were you expecting? The barn?" Miroku asked him incredulously, "I'm down the hall if you need me. Miroku left the room and Inuyasha opened all his suitcases. He finally found what he was looking for between two very soft sweaters – his baby, his connection to the outside world, his laptop. He set it up with the utmost care of the desk next to his bed before emptying his clothing into the closet and drawers in no particular order.

He finished exploring his room and bathroom and ventured out into the hall. It was dark out, what with the sun setting earlier in the winter and the wood floor was cold under Inuyasha's bare feet. Light leaked out from the crack below the door of the room across from his. An ornate 'K' decorated the door. Inuyasha smirked, 'Hello Kagome,' and opened the door.

Kagome was sitting on her bed in pajama pants and a tank top pouring over papers and books. Inuyasha stared at her. Her hair was swept up in a messy bun, exposing a lighter patch of skin on the back of her neck. No longer wearing anything over her arms, Inuyasha could see Kagome's (unexpected) muscles move as she turned a page. Inuyasha snapped himself out of his trance when he noticed Kagome was staring back at him.

"It's common courtesy to knock when coming in another's room," Kagome informed him. "Can I help you?" Kagome asked, her index finger fixed on a piece of paper.

"Uh…no. I was just coming in to introduce myself," Inuyasha invented. Kagome took a sticky note and put it where her finger had been. She cautiously got up off her bed, careful no to displace any papers. She held her hand out for him. Inuyasha looked at it like it was an alien.

"That's generally where you shake her hand and say 'I'm Inuyasha,'" Miroku offered helpfully from the doorway where he stood watching, "And dinner's ready by the way," Inuyasha finally took Kagome's hand.

"Inuyasha," Inuyasha said.

"Kagome," she replied with a hint of a smile, "Nice to meet you,"

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Thank you for reading! Reviews are appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

'Wow,'

Inuyasha stared at the dinner table with huge eyes. He quickly counted the people in the room. There were six, and there was definitely more than enough food for six. Drool was practically dripping from Inuyasha's mouth. In the middle of the dining table sat the most picture perfect turkey he had ever seen, complete with stuffing and decorative vegetables. Then or course, there was also the potatoes, carrots, salad, rolls and a suspicious looking cake pan…

"Well, sit down Inuyasha," an older man gestured to the seat across from him, "This dinner's not going to eat itself! I'm Masaki – Miroku's father," he held out his hand and Inuyasha shook it.

"I'm Inuyasha, nice to meet you," Inuyasha said, sitting down.

"Got it right that time! Nice job," Miroku teased.

"Ah, shut up," Inuyasha snapped back. Mrs. Higurashi smiled.

"Well, dig in." Inuyasha helped himself to a plate of food and shoveled food (politely) into his mouth.

"This is great!" He exclaimed through a mouthful of potatoes. Kagome threw him a disgusted look.

"It's a good thing you like it, we'll be eating this for a week at least! You always make too much food, mother," Kagome scolded, "And you should have just asked me

to-"

"Kagome that is not a discussion we are going to have at the dinner table!" Mrs. Higurashi cut her off shrilly. "Besides, we always wait until Christmas," Kagome slumped in her seat and ate in silence. As Mrs. Higurashi and Masaki lapsed into conversation Inuyasha leaned over to Miroku and whispered,

"What always waits for Christmas?" He asked. Miroku shrugged.

"Beats me," he said, and leaned to the other side, "Sota?" Kagome's little brother gave a shifty look to his mother and older sister before replying.

"First chicken of the year gets slaughtered, day before Christmas. Mom hates us talking about it when we eat though," he whispered back. Inuyasha felt a little sick. They actually slaughtered chickens here? 'What is this Chicken Run? I'll bet they keep them in crazy mini army barracks,' Sadistic people. Inuyasha sat silently through the rest of the meal, and tried not to attack the absolutely delicious apple cobbler that was unveiled in the cake pan.

Animal abuse and all, this place was getting better and better by the minute.

***

Inuyasha was still at his desk, surfing the infuriatingly slow web when he heard hushed voices in the room next door. He debated for a moment between stupidly hilarious videos and eavesdropping and quickly opted for the latter. He shut his computer down and crept quietly into the hall. A warm glow peeked out from the slightly opened door and Inuyasha sat silently and listened to the voices of Kagome and her mother.

"…your mother and you will not address me that way," came the incensed

whisper.

"If you are my mother then start acting like it!" came the sharp reply, "We have a farm to run here! It is absolutely immature and irresponsible to continue acting like this,"

"That is quite enough! You are my daughter and I will not tolerate this lip," Mrs. Higurashi replied in a hushed shrill.

"Is that your only argument to my problems with you? 'I'm your mother do as I say,'?" Kagome asked angrily.

"It is not your place to address these problems. I am the adult here, do not forget it!" The hysteric words came out. Inuyasha felt his stomach curling in guilt, but could not tear himself away from what he was hearing. "I will take responsibility for this farm!"

"You already have!" Kagome snapped, "Bringing that half-wit boy here to dig us into destitute! He doesn't know the first thing about farming and nor do you!"

"Kagome Higurashi, my choices are my own and they are not for you to question!"

"I will question whatever I damn well please until you have learned how to run this farm yourself! We are not short of luxury now but come planting season we may well be! There is absolutely no reason to go out and _buy _a turkey when we house chickens here for the specific reason of eating their products and them!" Kagome's voice was raising, and she quickly lowered it back down to a whisper.

"I will not throw your father's tradition's out just because he has died and you want to!" Mrs. Higurashi said piercingly.

"Somehow I think given the circumstances he would bend his tradition!" Kagome gave up attempting to keep her voice low. The opening of a door preceded Miroku's head popping out into the hallway and angrily motioning Inuyasha back inside his room. Inuyasha went, but it made no difference now, the Higurashi women's voices carried well through the walls. "We are not going to be at maximum profits again for years!" Kagome continued, "If only for the fact that I am the closest to knowing how to run a farm! If you continue with all of these frivolities, soon enough we won't be able to have them at all!"

"My 'frivolities' here are called manners elsewhere!" Mrs. Higurashi cried back at her daughter. "I see nothing wrong with giving a long term guest a welcoming dinner!"

"Give him a welcoming dinner then, but don't buy what we already have!" Kagome screamed. "Dad worked his ass off so you could live your perfect housewife life, baking cookies and cooking turkeys, but I WON'T HAVE IT!! You say you are an adult; start acting like one! _Take _responsibility for god's sake! GET A JOB!! DO SOMETHING BESIDES GIVING UP AND SELLING OUR DAMN FARM!"

_Crack. _

A pregnant silence filled the air as the sound of hand hitting cheek split the air.

"You are forgetting your place as a child. You are to show Inuyasha how to run the farm and then leave him to do his job and go back to yours – being a child. Are we clear?" Mrs. Higurashi asked coldly, sternly.

"I am not a child anymore, mother," Kagome spat scathingly, "And the sooner you realize that the happier we'll all be. I will never give up this farm, and Inuyasha will never be able to run it. It's time to get used to the fact that you are no longer the supporter of this house – I am. You can't run a farm – I can. And if you try to move us, I will take you to the courts with child negligence. I refuse to let you destroy everything my father worked for," she spoke so chillingly cold, Inuyasha felt like curling up and shivering under his blankets, "Now get out of my room,"

Inuyasha heard the door shut and relaxed onto his bed. His first night here and already it felt more like home than he could ever wish or not wish. He fell into a fitful sleep, guilt still filling him.

At the very unpleasant hour of four thirty am, Inuyasha was woken by the shuffling of feet all around the house. He groan, rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. The banging of pots soon interrupted his plan. For a half hour, Inuyasha rolled over, twisted and turned to attempt to drown out the noise, but it was no use. 'What on earth are these people doing up so early?'

"Inuyasha?" a soft voice beckoned from outside.

"Come in," he sighed. Miroku entered.

"Good morning. Breakfast is ready so get dressed and come downstairs,"

"Breakfast?" Inuyasha cried in outrage, "It's five in the morning!"

"Things start early on a farm. Get used to it, tomorrow you're getting up even earlier with the rest of us." Miroku grinned devilishly at him and left. Inuyasha sleepily pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and trumped downstairs. Mrs. Higurashi was standing at the stove in the kitchen watching over some bacon, her eyes were slightly puffy. Kagome was scolding her brother at the table and Inuyasha could see the lightly bruised and scratched area on her cheek.

"Sota, wait until everyone gets here!" she was saying. Inuyasha plopped down across from her, next to Miroku.

"Alright then," Mrs. Higurashi said from the kitchen, "Go ahead and start,"

"Do you need any help, mother?" Kagome offered. Mrs. Higurashi shook her head and came to join them at the table with a large plate of bacon.

"No, thank you. Everything's finished." With appreciation, Inuyasha noted that this meal was every bit as grandeur as the last one, though he secretly hoped that this one wouldn't start another fight.

"Mom, do we have any of Mrs. Kita's syrup?" Sota asked, eyes searching the table.

"No, you asked yesterday, remember? You used it up two days ago. If you want when you get home you can run over there and ask for more," Sota eyes brightened at the prospect and Inuyasha's eyes bulged.

"Do you guys do this every day? I mean this breakfast?" Inuyasha asked Miroku to the side.

"Well, yeah. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," he replied as if Inuyasha had asked if the world were round.

"I'm going," Kagome said abruptly and got up. Everyone except Inuyasha nodded.

"Where?" he blurted out. Kagome stared at him skeptically.

"To the barns," Kagome said before leaving the house.

"The barns?" Inuyasha asked after she left. "What's she doing going out there?" Sota giggled.

"Don't you know?" he asked through his laughter, "Everything! Kagome does everything in the barns!" Miroku, who had also been laughing, cut in.

"It's her chores, to be exact. First thing she does is to melt the frost off the cows' water. Come January she'll have to spend an hour on it, cause it'll be frozen solid. Then she goes through all the pens and marks which ones need cleaning. Dad will clean them while she's at school, and then she milks the cows that never got used to the milking machines, which me and Sota help her with, and you will too tomorrow," Miroku laughed at Inuyasha's stricken expression. "Better get some sleep, because as farm manager, you'll be doing everything Kagome does." Inuyasha tapped his heels together three times, 'There's no place like home, there's no place like home,' To his dismay, the classic trick didn't work.

***

Kagome sighed. It was not the easiest thing for her to fit all of her work into the morning, and there was no way on earth the city boy posing as business man would ever get the hang of it. As she walked around the cow barn she checked the health and progress of the breeding heifers. New babies would be coming this spring, lots of them. Kagome sighed once again. She need to assess the amount of corn to plant and order it in short order, however it was no small task and she would do it under the careful eye of Uncle Masaki.

"Kagome!" the young voice of her brother brought her out of her thoughts. "We're going to get started alright?"

"Okay, Keishi and Tao should be here at seven to help, I'll be with you in a minute," Kagome noted to herself that the hiring of more farmhands would be incredibly beneficial as her butt became numb sitting on a small milking stool. A loud moo indicated she was working out her frustrations in the wrong way. "Sorry, Juanita," she said as the older cow swatted her lightly with her tail.

"Goodness, Kagome," Miroku exclaimed in mock surprise, "I was unaware you had such dominatrix type tendencies," Kagome blushed and threw a handful of hay at him.

"Shut up, pervert. I had something on my mind."

"Something obviously that wasn't milking," Miroku said suggestively, "I always try to be gentle. It seems to be what the human ladies enjoy, so why not other species? Not of course, that I'm saying that all women like to held gently. No, indeed. I mean you, Kagome, obviously have other – aah! Hey!" Miroku was cut off by the warm splatter of milk that was aimed at his open mouth.

"Stuff it. As if you have so much experience outside of cows. Though, I was surprised to learn you practiced bestiality,"

"Bestiality?" Miroku said in fake outrage, "Why I never! I could never stand for such a dirtying of the sacred act that is making love,"

"Making love, he says. Miroku the last time I heard you say that you were trying to seduce a fourteen year old,"

"I thought she was sixteen! They look older every year, I swear!"

"Miroku, what's a dominatrix? And what's bestiality? And making love?" The blood drained as Miroku heard Sota's innocently curious voice. He had forgotten the boy was there.

"Well, it's uh…Kagome why don't you help me out?" Miroku asked nervously. Kagome shook her head, giggling.

"You made the bed mister. Go lie in it." Kagome laughed as she listened to Miroku try to worm his way out of Sota's very direct questions.

"So why aren't all the cows being milked?" Kagome jumped and nearly over turned a milk bucket.

"Inuyasha! Don't sneak up on me like that," Kagome scolded, "We milk the older cows because they aren't used to the milking machines for whatever reason. Some came from farms that do it by hand; some are older and weren't raised with the machines. Some of these cows will actually probably be in the slaughterhouse by next year because it just takes so much time to care for them,"

"What?" Inuyasha exclaimed, "You'll just kill them because they rake work?" Kagome gave him a funny look.

"When you have three hundred other heifers to look after, you tell if I can kill them because they take extra work," Kagome told him. "Anyways, this afternoon I have to show you the ropes, so I might as well start now. Most of the cows are milked by the machines, which the farmhands take care of. The ones who aren't will be assessed at the beginning of the planting season to see if we'll keep or sell them. Until then, we'll be milking all of them every morning," Kagome got up to lead Juanita back to her stall and brought another cow out. "This is Gille, she's from another farm without machines, but she's a sweetie. Come here, I'll teach you how to milk." Kagome tied Gille in place and sat Inuyasha down on the stool she had been using. She kneeled next to him with a bucket of warm soapy water. "First thing to do is to clean the udder. It helps the milk come down and keeps away infection," Kagome held the wet towel out to him. Inuyasha stared at it.

"You want me to actually take that and use it to feel up a cow?" Inuyasha asked in disgusted disbelief, "No way in hell,"

"Don't be stupid Inuyasha. You're not 'feeling up' the cow as you so genteelly put it. Cows don't exactly have sex drives. Just clean her, okay?" Kagome threw the towel at him. Inuyasha glared at it skeptically before holding it as far away from his hand as possible and lightly flicked it towards Gille's udder. "Oh for goodness sake, Inuyasha. Come here." Kagome called him over and took the towel from him. "Put your hand out,"

Inuyasha stuck out his hand palm up and Kagome laid the towel over it. She took her own hand and put it against the back of Inuyasha's. Kagome guided them towards Gille and gently cleaned her udder with practiced ease. Inuyasha was acutely aware of the placement of one of her hands on his shoulder, balancing her and the other (unexpectedly) rough hand guiding him through this mortifying process.

"There, all done. What that really so terrible Mr. Cow-Molester?" Kagome asked with a smirk. "Just dry her off now, gently or she'll get a rash," Inuyasha hesitantly mimicked the movements Kagome had led him through. "Good. Now take this bucket and put it below her udder," Inuyasha took the bucket from her, "Okay, first take your thumb and your index finger and pinch the top of her teat…" Kagome led him through the milking and soon enough he had the hang of it, though he was only milking one teat at a time, and Kagome always did two.

"This is bestiality, I swear. Some police officer is going to barge in here and arrest me," Inuyasha whined.

"No worries," Miroku's helpfully voice chimed in, "Kagome knows all tof the policemen in the district anyways,"

"That's not making the any easier," Inuyasha snapped.

"Hey, Miroku, you never did tell me what bestiality is…" Sota added thoughtfully. Kagome laughed on her way out of the barn.

"Now where's she going?" Inuyasha asked as he finished milking Gille.

"To the horses," Sota told him as he helped him untie Gill and lead her back to her stall. Miroku brought out another cow for Inuyasha to milk.

"The horses?" Inuyasha asked excitedly.

"Don't get your hopes up, bud," Miroku said. "Kagome and my dad are the only ones allowed near the horses outside of riding,"

"Why?" Inuyasha was put out. The only interesting part about this place and he wasn't allowed near it.

"Because horses are one of the most skittish animals on the face of the planet, and each horse has their own set of things they absolutely have to have or they go haywire. And Kagome spoils them," Miroku sighed, "She's the only person who can get Amaziah to really cooperate. I mean sure, Dad can ride him and I can sit on him until he decides I'm too annoying to hold anymore – but Kagome can make him do anything she wants by just telling him," Miroku sounded annoyed, "The only horse who does that for me is Viscaria, and I swear sometimes it's just because she thinks I'm a pathetic little human who has nothing going for him,"

"Who is Amaziah, and who is Viscaria?"

"Horses," Sota piped up, "Amaziah is our stallion, and Viscaria is our oldest mare, but she's really naughty most of the time,"

"If you asked, Kagome might teach you how to ride on Belle," Miroku suggested, "She's not the oldest horse, but she is by far the most tame," Inuyasha was inspired by this thought and finished the rest of the milking without complaint. At 6:30, they returned to the house.

"Hey, look," Sota said and ran over the horse corral, "Kagome's going to jump Aster," he jumped up on the fence and was joined by Miroku and Inuyasha. Kagome saw them and waved. She squared up to a low jump, eased Aster into a gallop and easily cleared the bar. Kagome rode over to them and slowed down when she was next to the fence.

"Hey!" Kagome called with more enthusiasm than Inuyasha had seen on her face so far. They greeted her and Aster came over to say hello. She snuffled inquisitively in Inuyasha's direction and stuck her head through the bars of the corral. "Put your hand out for her to smell. Oh, but keep your fingers together, or she's liable to bite one," Inuyasha held his hand for Aster to inspect. When she had deemed it worthy she trotted away, prancing for her admiring audience.

Kagome, Sota and Miroku soon departed for school an hour later, leaving Inuyasha in the capable hands of Masaki. Inuyasha tagged dully along behind him as he walked through the cow barns.

"Pay attention here, son," Masaki scolded lightly, "This is your work as much has mine. You'll notice that the stalls Kagome marked come around every third pen. That's how it works – every stall is patched every third day. You take the soiled straw out and put clean in. On Sunday every pen is totally cleaned."

"Every pen?" Inuyasha exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yup. Don't worry though, once April comes around the cows will be up in the hills for the season only the ones who drop late will stay behind."

"Drop?"

"Have a calf. We sell the calves or keep them to raise for milk or to send to the slaughterhouse." Inuyasha did his best to ignore that last part.

"How many will have babies?" He asked instead.

"Almost all. We should have over two hundred calves." Masaki said proudly.

"Two hundred?" Inuyasha cried. "How can you take care of that many?"

"We can't." Masaki said simply.

"Then what do you do with the ones you can't take care of?"

"Well, the male calves we'll sell for meat. Sometimes we keep one or two for breeding purposes, but most are sent to the butcher." 'Yuck,' Inuyasha grimaced. "The females, though we keep and in two years they'll be giving milk. We also sell the older heifers. They'll probably end up in hamburgers." Inuyasha noted distractedly that he was going to have to work up a stomach of steel. "Let's get to work, I'll take the right side." Inuyasha quickly brought his hand to his face and caught the pitchfork that was tossed at him. "Soiled straw goes in the wheel barrow, we'll hall fresh stuff down later."

"Will the cows be in there?" Inuyasha asked, unable to help the fear of large animals that could squish him easily. Masaki laughed.

"No, son, they won't be." Masaki pointed behind him. Three men were leading the cows out of the barn. "The hands take them out to the corral for the morning. Come on, now." Inuyasha entered the first stall. The smell of manure permeated the air, though it wasn't unbearable. They spent half the morning cleaning out the stalls, and Masaki ended up cleaning what Inuyasha hadn't gotten to yet. Masaki took Inuyasha to one of the storage barn's, where he had a sneezing attack as dust filled his nostrils. As Masaki tossed straw bails down to him, Inuyasha discovered that they were no where near as light as they seemed. After being knocked down by several, Inuyasha resorted to letting them crash down to the floor and then dragged them over to the tractor that would hall them to the barn. Inuyasha collapsed onto the back of the tractor in exhaustion when Masaki took the wheel. While it was dusty, the straw was relatively comfortable.

_"Woof!"_ an indignant bark jolted Inuyasha from his slump. A dog with pointed ears and a furrowed brow was frowning at him. Yes, the light brown dog was frowning at him. Masaki turned around at the noise.

"I see you've met the resident farm dog." Inuyasha looked at him and nodded. "You're in her spot, Inuyasha. Why don't you come up here with me? Inuyasha moved from his place under the dog's scrutinizing glare.

"Her spot?" Inuyasha asked once situated.

"The back of the truck. She's rather territorial. Her name is Kirara, a Basenji." Inuyasha glanced back at Kirara. She had a curled tail and a slim frame. She was a very pretty dog. Then she growled at him, and he whipped his head back around. Pretty, not necessarily warm and fuzzy.


End file.
